LWW shows its mettle against LemontWarriors show their potential in 1-0 loss to no. 14 Indians

By Mike Garofola

LEMONT -- With two losses earlier in the week, it appeared Lincoln-Way West was approaching a crossroads in its season as the Warriors prepared to play one of the best clubs in the South Suburbs in Lemont, one of Class AA's top teams.

Wonderfully gifted with plenty of firepower to call upon, Lemont was expected to give manager Jeff Theiss an idea of what to expect of his charges with the final month drawing closer after this nonconference match Saturday at the Lemont Sports Complex.

The undefeated Indians (9-0-0) found the game-winner at 51 minutes, but the 1-0 defeat won't dampen the spirits of Lincoln-Way West and Theiss, who found out a hard-fought 80 minutes that the team can play with the best from here forward.

Lemont's Michaela Egan decided the absorbing afternoon contest for the reigning Class AA fourth place state medal winner, which showed it plans on returning to the last weekend of the season. After facing the Indians best performance of the spring campaign, Lincoln-Way West was heartened.

"The girls showed they're ready," said Theiss. "And even with this loss, I am very proud of the effort and work they all gave, which is something all of us can take and go forward with.

"We had a tough couple of results this past week, especially with Andrew on Thursday when we conceded the first three goals, and it looked like it would be a long night against one of our conference rivals.

"But this team never quits, and when we pulled two back, and really pressured (Andrew) until the final whistle, I knew we might be ready to come out here today and play against one of the best. (It's) just that you're never quite sure that would happen."

With nearly everyone back from its state team which finished at 20-3-4 overall, manager Rick Prangen, now in his 24th year, finally saw his club play at the level he knows they can.

"To be fair, with this fractured season due to the weather and cancellations and an early schedule for us where we haven't been tested all that much, this was a game we were looking forward to because Jeff does a great job at West and his team can play the game," said Prangen, who has five state trophies in his distinguished career.

"We enjoyed most of the play in the first half, especially in the first 20-25 minutes, but (West) really came at us and made us work after the break to give us the type of test I wanted our girls to have at this point in the season."

Theiss was quick to toss plenty of praise on his backline, beginning with Amanda Yaeger, who played far beyond her freshman status. She kept the Warriors unit organized and composed when it was forced to weather the 20-minute onslaught Lemont heaped on its guests.

"Amanda was big out there for us, she really proved to be a great leader when we needed her to be," offered Theiss.

While Lemont has plenty of weapons in its arsenal, beginning with its all-state senior Mairead Ruane, who bagged 30 a year ago, it was another who was more dynamic for Lemont on this day.

Senior Jacqueline Aleman, short in stature but huge with her pace, work rate, technical and tactical acumen, was a key factor in the Lemont attack on the outside, showing her ability to be a clever two-footed player.

Aleman earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors for her efforts, which were clearly demonstrated during the Indians strong opening half that kept the Warriors under pressure.

"We were at our best today in the first half, creating some very good chances and opportunities for ourselves but not finishing them," said Prangen. "If we did, maybe we're talking about a 2- or 3-0 victory, or a much easier time of it.

"But if you've been around the sport for awhile, you learn you've got to finish, and fortunately for us we got that first and only goal today."

Yaeger came to the rescue when called upon beginning with a sharp clearing effort of a cross into the box by Victoria Silvar at 12 minutes prior to a terrific tackle against Erin Crispo to stop the senior from getting to the endline.

While the visiting Warriors struggled to impose themselves on the game during this first part of the opening period, Lemont impressed with a fluid, purposeful passing game in which several players had touches during its build-up, including the aforementioned Aleman and Ruane.

"We had to defend a lot more than we wanted to in that first half, but our players in the back did a great job to help us out," said Lincoln-Way West senior Savina Filip.

After Lemont stacked three-consecutive corners together, all of which the Warriors parried out of trouble, the visitors attack began to show some life.Anna Kirk's lung-bursting run up the right side ended when the junior stung the gloves of Lemont keeper Michelle Jerantowski in the 25th minute, and later, Savina would go over the bar with her 30-yard free kick attempt.

These two half chances by the Warriors (5-6-1) only slowed the rampant attack from the home side momentarily with Aleman rattling the post, Katie Knutte nearly catching up to a lovely helper from Danielle Irwin, and Ruane missing from in-close.

"Lemont did such a great job of moving and passing the ball in the first half, but we came out after the break and played some of our best soccer of the season, and didn't allow them to do very much against us," said Sara Loichinger.

Filip, Loichinger, Kirk, Kylee Brandau and Sam Sarna were part of the Warriors second half awakening, as both clubs were greeted by a steady rain which hung around until the final minutes of regulation.

Looking to catch Lemont cold after the 10-minute intermission, Kirk unloaded a wicked free kick missile that just missed becoming the equalizer five minutes into the new period.

"We've been snakebitten a few times this year by the post so just add another close one to that list with Kirk's blast," began Theiss.

"If that free kick goes in, and we get back even who knows what the result would have been. But the girls didn't give up and continued to play hard until the final whistle."

Loichinger showed great techique in bringing down a looping ball on the way out of the area before she fired a one-time attempt over from 25 yards.

This early dominating performance by the visitors brought the home side out of its shell, with Aleman at the heart of a now lively attack.

The eventual game-winner from Egan all started with Crispo finding Aleman on the left side. The Lemont co-captain raced past a pair of players on the left side, before cutting inside and playing to Egan, who arrived at the top of the box unmarked.

With enough time and space to tee-up her shot, the junior went just under the woodwork from 18 yards.

"It was a great goal, but we obviously cannot leave anyone unmarked from that spot on the field," admitted Theiss, who minutes later deployed Filip as his attacking midfielder while going with a 3-5-2 formation in hopes of finding the equalizer in the last half hour.

"I thought as a team we adjusted pretty well when Jeff added no. 12 (Filip) as another midfielder, which is something I like to see the girls handle themselves without too much coaching from me," said Prangen.

Before the extra attacker took hold, Knutte ran unchallenged up the center channel and if not for an alert Yaeger, who moved quickly to the ball and her opponent, Knutte would have had keeper Grace Pearse all to herself.

The Warriors generated a trio of corners and free kicks in the final 10 minutes, all of which were handled with composure by the Lemont backline and keeperJerantowski, who closed out the visitors who looked to be having a case of tired legs in the final moments of play.

"It was a tough game, we used a lot of energy to play them as hard as we could, and in the end, I think most of us were a little tired," said Loichinger.

"We played an aggressive game and fought hard against a really good team. So I know we can continue to play at this level for the rest of the way," added Filip.

The two Warriors' stars and their mates will now turn their attention towards the final five games of the regular season, three of which will be league games.

"We came close to playing a complete 80 minutes of soccer today and did so by responding really well to those two losses we took this past week," said Theiss.

"Again, we still have work to do, but I am encouraged by what I saw from the girls today, and they should be also."